Promoting the Sales Profession

Get Britain Selling

GET BRITAIN SELLING is a ground up initiative as opposed to a Government top down. The primary purpose of this site is to promote the Sales Profession.

When I speak in USA and other countries I always announce I am a Professional Salesman this usually gets huge applause and a standing ovation on more than one occasion.

When I make the same announcement in UK they bring out a burning cross and a wooden stake to go through my heart. Not quite, but if you are in sales you will recognise it is not far from the truth.

I have wondered for years why this is the case. I have had a career in sales that has spanned over almost 140 years. That isn’t a typing error 140 years I have not had a drink from the fountain of eternal youth, what I mean is I started to read sales training and personal development books early on in life. I then began to collect books predominantly about the profession of selling and personal development. Many of these books are over 100+ years old.

I have more than 1000 books which have outlined to me how to close a sale, how to develop rapport and all the other cries that are connected to the profession of selling.

The easily transferable idea, now that’s a modern phrase, that appealed to me most and made the biggest impact was a method of selling; written about in 1875. There was a concept designed to give order and procedure to the whole business of developing a career in sales. Note a career not a job, a profession to be proud of and in the 1800’s the nation as a whole had respect for the sales profession. Where did it go wrong?

Have you ever wondered where all the sales people have gone? I remember the day I went on holiday and came back and all the sales personnel had vanished and been replaced by Business Development Executives, Business to Business Executive and other titles all designed to disguise the professionalism of sales people. Life Insurance Salesmen became Life Underwriters now there’s a title that does not give anybody a clue as to what that person calling on you is there for.

I learnt my profession from books and watching other sales people and copying how the the good salespeople behaved and discounting what the not so good sales people did.

I have the ideal background for sales, I certainly wasn’t a ‘born salesman’ whatever that is.

My background is little education, mildly dyslexic when I went to school dyslexia was pronounced stupid. 26 years military service. Being able to follow operating procedures and operating instructions was a great benefit. I read a quite smelly book written over 100 years ago, understood the operating procedure mentioned and transferred it to modern procedures. I was once told by an educated man something I considered profound he said;

“There are no new ideas”

It appears there are only old ideas rejigged to work in a modern world. A point of interest Benjamin Franklin in about 1750 also wrote about the procedure I use to develop myself and other successful sales people. He used this procedure to maintain his enthusiasm to sell his ideas, inventions and concepts, using the very procedure I read about in a book written over 100 years after he wrote about it, scary.

People ask me how far can I go back in identifying the sales profession, hand on heart, I answer one of my greatest sales training work books is the Old Testament. If you want to know where in the Old Testament the sales procedures are referred to contact me at sellinguniversity@yahoo.co.uk in the subject line insert SALES TIPS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. I won’t send you quotes Genesis XIV or whatever I will send you the actual sales training statement.

Another clever man once told me the only guarantee in life is:

“Death and Taxes”

I would add to that Change. “The only guarantee in life is Death, Taxes and Change. Change is constant if the Sales person does not embrace change they will become extinct very much like the dinosaur. The difference between the dinosaur and the mouse is the mouse adapted to change the dinosaur didn’t.

To paraphrase Charles Darwin,

“It’s not the strongest of Professional Sales People

that survive

nor the most intelligent.

But the Sales Professional

most responsive to change”

The aim of this site is to ensure that every Professional Salesperson or any other person who wants to pursue a career as a Professional Salesperson has the opportunity to develop and grow to ensure that during their selling career they are responsive to change.

I look forward to sharing my sales experience with you and for me everyday is a school day so I look forward to learning lots of top class ideas from the Professional Salespeople who read these pages.

Be Successful

Kevin

2 thoughts on “Get Britain Selling”

It only seems like yesterday since you were training me! You were a great Coach and I learnt a lot from you. You mention that change is Constant, that is certainly true and not always for the better. I am now up to my eyeballs doing exams just to keep my job and selling is now a dirty word which has been replaced by ‘advice’. I know how to sell, yet if the customer thinks they are being sold to they wont buy… trouble is when you do them a great job and sell them a policy etc then market drops and they then jump on the compensation bandwagon in search of a payout! Think I will go to America! KRgds Tony

You are right it does seem like yesterday. The older you get the faster the time goes. Sadly Government Quangoes always pressure the soft target in any area. It is a way of justifying their huge salaries. Change is constant and always needs to be for the better. Selling is still an honourable profession it is a challenge for our sales people to show that we are honest, ethical and more important customer minded.
The time has now arrived where portfolio selling will be the survival jacket of the selling profession. We are unable to rely on the Government simply because they have little idea of commerce. Their idea of helping the economy to grow is to allocate more funding to banks to provide bonuses and make them appear viable.
I am developing a portfolio of services and commodities that will ensure existing sales people and those wanting to enter the sales profession will do so based on being customer minded not being educated beyond the understanding of their clients.
My primary aim now is to pass on my skills. I don’t consider accademic or quango designed qualifications have anything to do with providing a top class customer minded service. You will have heard me saying previously selling is98% Understanding Human Beings 2% Prdouct Knowledge

Please refer the link to anybody you consider will benefit from this blog
Keep Smiling
Kevin